What is food intolerance?

Food intolerance is a chemical reaction in your body that does not involve the immune system. It is not an allergy. Classic examples of food intolerance include lactose intolerance, heartburn, and irritable bowel syndrome.

Lactase deficiency is as one of the most common types of food intolerance. When your body doesn't have enough of the lactase enzyme, you cannot properly digest lactose, the sugar that is found naturally in milk and in milk products. Symptoms of lactose intolerance tend to include bloating, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea.

Food Intolerance is defined by an IgG Immune system reaction that supports the production of cytokines, or inflammatory markers that can cause swelling the gut, brain and respiratory tract. 

These reactions can be tricky to determine, as they are delayed hyper-sensitivity responses that can take anywhere from 3-72 hours to show up.  Meaning, you can eat something on Monday and not have a reaction until Wednesday! 

The reaction can differ from digestive upset to skin disorders.  This phenonmenon is noted most often with gluten intolerance (protein in wheat, rye, oats and barley) as revealed in the book, the Gluten Connection by Dr Shari Lieberman. This type of reaction is most commonly seen with people who have IBS, IBD, ADHD, Autism, MS, as well as many other conditions.  Other common foods people report sensitivities to include: eggs, dairy, casien,  mustard, citrus, garlic, and tomatoes.

The term "sensitivities" is used synonomously with "intolerance" but is not the same as a food allergy or IgE immune system response, which is an immeadiate hypersensitivity response which causes the body to produce histamine.

Food intolerance reactions can wreak havoc on mental and physical health and well being, but unlike a food allergy are nt immeadiatly life threatening, but can cause long term damage as noted in disases like Crohn's Disease.

If you find you are intolerant to certain foods, you can try an elimination diet and/or see a nutritionist to uncover hidden food intolerance (s). 

Food intolerance refers to a physical response to a food or food additive that is not an allergic reaction. It differs from a food allergy in that it does not involve the immune system and it is much more common.

Food intolerances are often mistaken as food allergies. Some common food intolerances include food additives like MSG and sulfites; lactose; gluten; food poisoning; histamine toxicity; and ulcers and cancers of the digestive tract. Food intolerances do not usually cause as severe a reaction as food allergies, but they can cause nausea, vomiting, painful cramping, and diarrhea.